A Full-fledged Guide to Becoming a Big Data Engineer
Big data engineers are fantastic data-beasts, aren’t they?
But we’re all still struggling to find them.
A 2020 tech report by Dice indicated that the demand for data engineers was one among the fastest-growing tech job in technology with a 50 percent year-over-year surge in the number of job opportunities.
Yet companies find it a challenge to get talents on board.
In another report by Quanthub, it mentions the demand for data engineers has outstripped the supply for skilled data professionals. With data being a crucial commodity for every business, specialists in the field remain to surge. Therefore, the very existence of data engineers with big data skills is not going to cease any time soon.
As a result, “big data” remains to be the profession till the foreseeable future. Thus, big data skills for tech professionals are crucial, especially if you’re seeking a big data career.
The next question is, who are data engineers?
A data engineer is someone who works with raw data, prepares and manages data that have been analyzed by data analysts or data scientists. And how does he do that? Well, with the help of big data tools such as MapReduce, Hive, MongoDB, and Cassandra.
If you still don’t know, a data engineer is the combination of four different job roles:
- Software engineer — writes codes, conducts tests, and runs them. One of the easiest ways toward becoming a big data engineer.
- Big data developer — fully aware of how data processing takes place, thus utilizes different tools to transform data. The data model is developed according to the client’s requirements.
- Cloud engineer — with the amount of data generated in the present day, it gets difficult to store them in servers. This is where cloud solutions play a significant part in managing the storage of such data.
- Database administrator — helps build storage architecture and knows the best way to operate the data.
Data engineers hold responsible for designing, building, integrating, and maintaining the data gathered from multiple sources. And to get here, you need to have considerable coding experience and knowledge in Java, Python, R, Scala, and SQL.
We will briefly talk about the core skills needed to become a big data engineer:
Source : IntelliPaat
- Python — Python programming is the third most-loved programing language by developers and which remains at an all-time high as per Stack Overflow. The language is easy, efficient, and perfect even for beginners looking to get a legit foundation in big data.
- SQL and NoSQL — Since big data engineers move around a lot with data, they probably need to know databases. SQL databases include names like advanced modeling while NoSQL databases include names like Coherence, Apache River, Ignite, and Hazelcast.
- Hadoop — an open-source framework, the Hadoop-based platforms enable data engineers to store and analyze large volumes of data and information.
- Kafka — Kafka is an open-source processing software platform responsible for handling live data feeds. Simply said, Kafka can help build real-time streaming apps to discover and react to customers.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) — This is a cloud platform ideal to trace and keep track of the ongoing workflow of the company.
Besides the tech skills, the applicant must also have soft skills such as communication, time-management, and concise writing.
Big data engineer salary prospects
In a recent report by Gartner, 2021 is predicted to be the year filled with hyperautomation. Thereby making organizations drive insights from whatever data they have. And this is where big data engineers come into play, nonetheless, another reason why the field is growing rapidly. This simply means that despite the size of your organization, the industry will still a big data engineers to do their job. And to find the right hire, organizations are even willing to pay hefty salary packages.
The average salary of a data engineer is USD 116,591 per annum in the U.S., according to Glassdoor. However, it also depends on certain factors such as skills, experience, location, type of industry, and size of the organization.
Companies like Facebook and Amazon pay lucrative salaries ranging from USD 139,513 to USD 210,895 per annum.
Aren’t these reasons enough to decide why you desperately need a career in the big data field?
Looking to become a big data engineer? Begin now
With big data dominating most businesses, it is one of the ideal ways to keep your career secure. More so, you can start by simply getting yourself enrolled in an associate big data engineer or senior big data engineer certification program from the Data Science Council of America (DASCA).
DASCA is one of the best data science credentialing bodies recognized worldwide. This certifying body has pioneered an innovative pedagogy and also offers a robust curriculum to train the data engineers of tomorrow.
“Featured in CIO magazine as one of the top five certifying body, DASCA imparts knowledge both at the beginner and advanced level to students and working professionals in becoming tomorrow’s agile workers.”
If you’re a beginner, you could always opt for the Associate Big Data Engineer (ABDE™) Certification program and an experienced applicant can opt for the Senior Big Data Engineer (SBDE™) Certification program.
